Attorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian expose how Donald Trump filed a federal tort claim seeking $230 million from the government for defending himself against the Russia investigation and Mar-a-Lago search—during an active shutdown where federal employees aren’t getting paid. The hosts reveal how Trump’s Russia claim was filed in late 2023, placing it outside the two-year statute of limitations for events from his first presidency, while the decision-makers reviewing his claim are his own appointees: Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche (his former defense lawyer), and ultimately Trump himself, who admitted “it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I am paying myself.” They explain how this represents a textbook conflict of interest so obvious that an eight-year-old child could understand it, and how Trump is using the grift to normalize his conduct and reinforce his narrative of being targeted while federal workers go unpaid.